A tweet from perennial Republican candidate Joe Visconti that refers to attorney general candidate and state Rep. William Tong as “Kim Jong Tong” is drawing criticism from Democratic and Republican leaders who called it “hateful” and “disgraceful.”

Visconti posted a photo of Tong on Wednesday night with the words “Kim Jong Tong For CT AG” and “#never” underneath.

A spokesman for Tong said he has “battled hate and bigotry his entire life” and has “the strength and courage to fight for all of us.”

“In Donald Trump’s America, so many people in Connecticut have a target on their backs,” consultant Mark Bergman said in a written statement. “This administration is going after women, people of color, immigrants, working people, even Connecticut taxpayers. And the number one play in their playbook is to attack people who are ‘different’ and to try to humiliate them.”

Visconti has run unsuccessfully for numerous offices, including Congress and governor. He is not an endorsed candidate of the Republican party.

“Representative Tong was targeted by an irrelevant individual with a tweet that is ignorant, immature and irresponsible,” Fasano said. “Connecticut residents want to hear about policies regarding real issues, not personal attacks. To inject such rhetoric distracts from the meaningful debates we should be having.”

“Sue won’t tolerate this kind of rhetoric and will condemn it always no matter who says it,” Rubin said.

Visconti, a West Hartford resident, said Friday that he made the comparison between Tong and Kim Jong-un after watching one of Tong’s political ads. Visconti said he felt that Tong will “weaponize the AG office” and had attacked Trump in those ads, much like Kim Jong-un has attacked Trump.

“I compared him to someone of his own race,” Visconti said. “I can’t find racism there unless you want to look for it,’’ he said. “It’s Asian on Asian, I don’t see it.”

Democratic Party Chair Nick Balletto said he wants the state Republican Party “to publicly condemn this disgusting language,” saying it is not the first time Tong has been targeted by “thinly veiled racism.”

“It’s time for the Republican Party to show some spine and stand up to a member of their party,” Balletto said in a statement. “This is a disgusting, vile, and disrespectful tweet and no way to refer to a candidate who could make history in the state of Connecticut. … The modern day Republican Party has descended into spreading racist language, but with Donald Trump as the leader of their party we can hardly be surprised.”

Since Wednesday, 22 accounts have tweeted responses to Visconti’s tweet, some calling it “disgraceful,” “void of dignity, class, morals or ethics” and “deplorable.”